Hundreds of Kentucky high school students and climate campaigners with the youth-led Sunrise Movement descended on the Capitol Hill office of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Monday to deliver 100,000 petition signatures and stage a sit-in to make clear to lawmakers that young people want a Green New Deal for their communities and futures.

For calling on McConnell to heed public demands for federal lawmakers to pass policies that will phase out fossil fuels and combat the global climate crisis while also creating green jobs and a more just economy, more than 40 demonstrators were arrested:

As recent polling shows more than 80 percent of Americans back key elements of the Green New Deal put forth by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), the mobilization to increase pressure on McConnell comes after the majority leader announced last week that he plans to rush a floor vote on the resolution, which critics denounced as a ploy to fuel divisions in the Democratic Party.

“Kentucky youth traveled here today because their state needs a Green New Deal. Mitch McConnell’s Green New Deal vote is a political stunt to score some points for his wealthy donors,” Sunrise Movement executive director Varshini Prakash said in a statement. “We’re here to warn him and all senators: if you refuse to back the Green New Deal, young people will remember next time you ask for our votes.”

Demonstrators who carried signs that read “Oil & gas $$ or our lives?,” “Green New Deal,” and “Mitch, Look us in the eyes” as well as supporters posted updates on social media from Monday’s demonstration with the hashtags #OilMoneyMitch and #LookUsInTheEyes:

“I am here because people in my community don’t have jobs, are starving and turning to opioids and dying,” 15-year-old Lily Gardner of Lexington, Kentucky said in a statement. “Mitch McConnell refuses to do anything about. His own constituents – high schoolers – have traveled here to meet with him. All we want is for him to put our lives above the interests of his campaign donors.”

Both from McConnell’s office and outside the Capitol Building, the youth demonstrators shared why they felt compelled to visit their senator in Washington, D.C. – with some pointing to warnings from a recent U.N. report that the international community has just about 12 years to pursue “rapid, far-reaching, and unprecedented” systemic changes needed to avert climate catastrophe:

“The Green New Deal is for my brother who has asthma and everyone in Louisville who suffers from pollution.” – Jenny pic.twitter.com/XErswwC1N4

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), who is among the scores of co-sponsors of the Green New Deal resolution, voiced support for the sit-in at McConnell’s office on Monday, urging the youth climate activists to “keep fighting.”

.@senatemajldr claims that a #GreenNewDeal is unattainable, as if he suddenly cares about climate. Instead of his obstruction, we need these bold and transformation solutions to save our planet and economy. Keep fighting, @sunrisemvmt!

Jessica’s writing has been published by The Nation, In These Times, The Ithaca Voice, London’s Peace News, and Common Dreams. Her work in journalism primarily explores the intersection of politics, public health, and environmental policy. She also writes about human and civil rights, gender, and labor issues.

RECOMMENDED SITES

At NationofChange, our mission is to help people create a more compassionate, responsible, and value-driven world, powered by communities that focus on positive solutions to social and economic problems.